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No. 623,248. Patented Apr. I8, I899; T. J. KING &. A. 0. BABENDBEIER,

RAILWAY.

' (Ap' licatiox} filed Sept. 20, 1898.)

2 Shuts-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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No. 623,248. Patented Apr. l8, I899. T. J. KING & A. 0. BABENDREIEB.

RAILWAY.

(A likation filed Sept. 20, 1898.) (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNTTE STATES PATENT Urricn.

THEODORE J. KING AND ARTHUR Of BABENDREIER, OF WVASIIINGTON,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,248, dated April18, 1899.

Application filed September 20, 1898. erial No. 691,467. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

reached, and for engaging and holding the Be it known that we, THEODOREJ. KING plow when raised, so as to enable the car to and ARTHUR O.BABENDREIER, citizens of the United States, residing at Vashington, inthe District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements inRailways, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class of electric railways which embrace aconduit and cars equipped with plows movable in the conduit and havingshoes or other means for making electric connection with a conductor orconductors therein and supplying current to the car-motors. Electricrailways of this class while eminently desirable for cities are verycostly, and therefore in railways which are both urban and suburban ithas been found expedient to make use of the conduit system in the cityand merge it at some suburban or other suitable point into an0verhead-trolley system. The conduit of course is made to end at oradjacent to where the overhead wire begins, and this renders itnecessary before a car can pass into the overhead system to raise theplow from the conduit or disconnect it from the car. Heretofore thedisconnection of the plow or the raising of the same from the conduithas been done by hand; but this is objectionable, because itnecessitates stopping the car and occasions considerable delay at thepoint where the railway changes from conduit to overhead and alsobecause it entails the employment of laborers at such point.

The general object of our invention is to provide means forautomatically raising the plow of a car to a point above the surfacebetween the rails as the car passes from the conduit portion into thetrolley portion of a railway and for automaticallylowering the plow intothe conduit as the car passes from the trolley portion into the conduitportion, both operations being effected while the car is in motion andwithout necessitating any delay whatever of the same.

The invention also contemplates the provision of means for holding theplow to its work and against casual upward movement in the conduit,forautomatically releasing the plow when the end of the conduit system iscarry the same above the surface between the rails of the trolleysystem, such means being adapted as the car passes from the trolleysystem into the conduit system to operate inversely-that is to say, toautomatically release the plow and permit its descent into the conduitand then automatically engage the plow and hold it in its properoperative position and against casual upward movement.

lVith the foregoing ends in view the invention will be fully understoodfrom the follow ing description and c aims when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is alongitudinalsectional view of a portion of an electric railway and aportion of a carembodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a detail plan of the railway. Fig. 3is an enlarged side elevation, with parts in section, of thevertically-movable plow and the guideframe thereof. Fig. 4 is atransverse section taken in the plane indicated by the broken line 4 atof Fig. 3 and illustrating the conduit in the road-bed, the plowtherein, and the guide-frame of the plowinits proper relation to theconduit. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section taken in the plane indicated bythe broken line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectiontaken in the plane indicated by the broken line (3 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7is an enlarged detail section taken in the plane in-' dicated by thebroken line 7 7 of Fig. 3.

In the said drawings similar letters desig: nate corresponding parts inall of the several views, referring to which A is a conduit in theroad-bed of an electric railway. This conduit is provided with theappurtenances common to electric-railway conduits and is otherwisesimilar to the same with the exception that its slot a merges at a pointabove the surface between the rails. It is also designed to graduallylower the plow of a car traveling in the direction opposite to thatindicated to its proper operative position in thev conduit, and in orderto withstand frictional wear is either formed entirely of metal or elseshod with ametallic bar d, which preferably extends horizontally aslight distance above the surface between the rails after the mannershown.

B is a tappet disposed longitudinally at one side of the slot CL andopening I) and having beveled ends, for a purpose presently described.

C is an electric car, which may beof the ordinary or any otherconstruction, except in the particulars hereinafter noted. is equippedwith a plow D, which has suitable electric devices arranged to coactwith the conductors or other electric devices in the conduit for thetransmission of current to the car-motor. The plow D is verticallymovable and is mounted in and guided by a frame E,

(better shownin Figs.3, 4, and 5,) antifrictionwheels 6 fbeing providedon the frame and plow, respectively, to reduce the friction incident tothe up-and-down movements of the latter and the frame being providedwith a stop portion g, designed to limit the downward movement of theplow and support it in its properoperative position in the conduit. TheframeE in turn is supported by two transversely-disposed rods F,suitably connected with the car, it being loosely mounted on said rods,so as to be capable of free lateral movement and enable the plow toaccommodate itself to the slot when the car goes around a curve andprevent any binding between the plow and the walls of the slot.

G is a latch which serves to hold the plow against casual up wardmovement from its 0perative position in the conduit and also serves whenthe plow is raised above the surface between the rails to secure it insuch position. The said latch is pivotally connected to and depends fromthe frame Band is provided at an intermediate point of its length with alateral arm h. This arm h is designed to rest over an arm or projection2' on the plow to hold said plow in its proper operative position in theconduit and is also designed to take beneath a lower projection j on theplow when said plow is raised and support the same in such position. Forthe purpose of lessening the liability of the latch being casuallydisengaged from the arm j of the plow when the plow is in its raisedposition the meeting faces of the latch-ar1n h and plow projectionj aremade slightly convex and con cave, respectively, as best shown in Fig.3.

It follows from the foregoing that before the plow can be raised fromits operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, the latch G must bedisengaged from the projection 2' of the plow. This function isautomatically performed by the tappet B,which as the car travels in thedirection indicated by arrow not only This car tion opposite to thatindicated by arrow and the plow is carried above the surface between therails the tappet 13 serves to cant the latch and disengage its arm hfrom the plow projectionj and also serves to hold the latch in itscanted position until the plow has descended sufliciently to carry theplow projection 11 below the latch-arm h, when the latch is released andits arm h permitted to assume a position above the projection t'for thepurpose before stated.

In order to prevent the latch G from swinging beyond the vertical whenreleased, and

thereby insure its properly engaging the projections of the plow, weprovide the leverstop I'I. (Better shown in Figs. 3 and 4:.) Thislever-stop is fulcrumed on an upright m, rising from the frame E anddepends below the latch G, so as to be engaged by the beveled orinclined ends of the tappet B before said latch is engaged by thetappet. At

its upper end the lever-stop H is provided with two inwardly-directedlateral ears 12-, between which and slightly above the lower edges ofwhich normally rests a lug p on the latch Gr. By virtue of thisconstruction with the car moving in the direction of the arrow in Fig.1, for instance, the lever-stop H will first be engaged by the end ofthe tappet B v and its upper end will be thrown a slight distance in thedirection indicated by arrow. (See Fig. 3.) This will raise the rear car01 ofthe lever-stop with reference to the direction of arrow, so as toenable the lug 1) of the latch to clear the same when the latch is engaged by the tappet and moved in the direction opposite to thatindicated by arrow in Fig. 3. The parts will remain in these positionsuntil the opposite end of the tappet B is reached, when the latch willmove in the direction indicated by arrow and stop against the forwardear of the lever-stop, which will then resume its perpendicularposition, and thereby trap the lug 1) between its cars a. From this itwill be appreciated that the lever-stop not only insures the arm h ofthe latch properly engaging the projections ij of the plow, but alsotends to lessen the liability of said projections being casuallydisengaged from the latch.

The general operation of our improvements is as follows: lVith the cartravelingin the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 1 the latch isreleased from the projection v by the tappet B, and immediatelyafterward the plow engages and rides up the inclined way 0 to a positionabove the surface between the rails. At this time the latch is releasedfrom the tappet B and reassumes its perpendicular position, with its arm7!, below the plow projection j, and thus supports the plowin its raisedposition in the car. Then the car is traveling in the direction oppositeto that indicated by arrow, the operation is the inverse of thatdescribed-that is to say, the latch is first disengaged from the plowprojection j, and the plow then engages and moves down the in-' trolleyportion into the conduit portion of a duplex railway system without thenecessity of'stopping the car or reducing the speed of the same, whichis a highly-important advantage.

\Ve have described the car as traveling to and fro on a single track;but it is obvious that where the railway embraces a double track ourimprovements will be provided at the terminals of both conduits and thecars will be made to go out on one track and come in on the other, anordinary switch or other approved means being employed at the terminusof the railway to transfer the cars from one track to the other.

Our improvements are calculated to be used to advantage at the car-houseterminals of both electric and cable railways as well as at points whereconduit systems are merged into overhead-trolley system s,since with theplows raised above the surface between the rails the cars may be shiftedfrom one track to another without regard to the conduits and slotsthereof. The improvements may also be used to advantage where anunderground electric or a cable railway is merged into any kind ofrailway not embracing a conduit in its construction. This being so, wedesire it distinctly understood that the term conduit as herein employedis intended to comprehend a cable-conduit as well as an electric conduitand that the term plow is intended to comprehend the cable-gripper of acablecar as well as the current-collector of an electric car.

As bestshown in Fig. 4, the guideways of the frame E are open at theirupper ends. In virtue of this when it is desired to remove the plow fromthe car to make repairs or for any other purpose the same may beaccomplished by simply lifting the plow up and out of the frame E, andthis without the necessity of removing bolts or other devices.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. The combination of a car, a verticallymovable plow,a railway having aconduit provided with a slot and an opening, large enough for thevertical passage of the plow, connected with the slot, and also havingan inclined way arranged to engage the plow of the car, while said plowis in its operative position, and eX- tending through the opening of theconduit to a point above the surface between the rails so as to raisethe plow to such point, means for securing the plow in its operativeposition in the conduit, and means for automatically releasing the plow,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a car, a verticallymovable plow, a railway havingaconduit provided with a slot and an opening, large enough for thevertical passage of the plow, connected with the slot, and also havingan inclined way arranged to engage the plow of the car, while said plowis in its operative position, and extending through the opening of theconduit to a point above the surface between the rails so as to raisethe plow to such point, means for securing the plow in its operativeposition in the conduit, means for automatically securing the plow inits raised position, and means for automatically releasing the plow,substantially as specified.

3. The combination of a car, a verticallymovable plow, a railway havinga conduit provided with a slot and an opening, large enough for thevertical passage of the plow, connected with the slot, and also havingan inclined way arranged to engage the plow of the car while said plowis in its operative position, and extending through the opening of theconduitto a point above the surface between the rails so as to raise theplow to such point, means for automatically securing the plow in itsraised position, and means for automatically releasing the plow,substantially as specified.

4. The combination of a railway having a conduit, a car, avertically-movable plow carried by the car, means for securing the plowin its operative position in the conduit, means for automaticallyraising the plow above the surface between the rails, means forautomatically securing the plow in its raised position, and means forautomatically releasing the plow.

5. The combination of a railway having a conduit, a car, avertically-movable plow carried by the car, means for securing the plowin a position above the surface between the rails, means forautomatically releasing the plow, and means for gradually lowering theplow to its operative position in the conduit.

6. A car, a vertically-movable plow carried thereby, and a latch, alsocarried by the car, for engaging the plow; in combination with arailway, having a conduit to receive the plow of the car, a tappet forautomatically disengaging the latch from the plow, and an inclined wayarranged to engage the plow, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

7. A car, avertically-movable plow carried thereby, and alatclnalsocarried by the car, and

arranged to hold the plow in its depressed,

operative position and also in its raised position; in combination witha railway having a conduit to receive the plow of the car, -a tap- IIOpet arranged to disengage the latch from the plow, and an inclined wayarranged to engage the plow, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

8. A car, a verticalguide-frame carried thereby, a plow movable in saidframe, and a latch for engaging and holding the plow against casualvertical movement; in combination with a railway having a conduit, aninclined way, and a latch-engaging tappet, all arranged, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth;

9. Acar,avertical,laterally-movable guideframe carried thereby, avertically-movable plow arranged in said frame, and a latch also carriedby the car for holding the plow against casual vertical movement; incombination with a railway having a conduit, a latch-engaging tappet,and a plow-engaging inclined way, substantially as specified.

10. A car, a vertical guide-frame carried thereby, a plow movable insaid frame, a latch for holding the plow against casual verticalmovement, and an automatic stop'for insuring the engagement of the latchwith the plow, substantially as specified.

11. A car, a vertical guide-frame carried thereby, a plow movable insaid frame, a latch for holding the plow against casual verticalmovement, and an automatic stop for insuring the engagement of the latchwith the plow; in combination with a railway having a conduit, a tappetfol-engaging the latch and the automatic stop thereof, and an inclined,plow-engaging way, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

12. A car, a vertical guide-frame carried thereby, a plow movablevertically in said frame and having lower and upper projecttions, and alatch arranged to engage the upper projection of the plow when the sameis depressed and the lower projection when the plow is raised; incombination with a railway having a conduit, an inclined, plow-engagingway, and a tappet for engaging the latch and disengaging the same fromthe plow, substantially specified.

13. A car, a vertically-movable plow carried by the same, a latch forholding the plow against casual vertical movement and having a lug, anda stop-lever depending below the latch and having ears disposed atopposite sides of the lug thereof; in combination with a railway havingaconduit, an inclinedplowengaging way, and a tappet, substantially asspecified.

14. The combination of a car, averticallymovable plow carried by thesame, a swinging latch for holding the plow against casual verticalmovement and having a lug, and a stop-lever having ears arranged to restat opposite sides of the lug on the swinging latch, substantially asspecified.

15. A car, a vertical guide-frame carried thereby and open at its upperend, and a vertically-movable plow arranged in said'frame and removablethrough the upper end thereof, substantially as specified.

16. The combination of a car, a verticallymovable plow carried thereby,a latch for engaging and holding the plow, and an automatic stop forengaging the latch and insuring the engagement of the said latch withthe plow.

17. A car carrying a vertically-disposed guide-frame open at its upperend, in combination with a vertically-slidable plow arranged in saidframe and adapted to be removed through the open end thereof, a raiL wayhaving a conduit with a slot and an opening large enough to permit theremoval of the plow, and an inclined way arranged to engage the plow andlift the same out of the slot, above the surface of the way and betweenthe rails thereof,su bstantially as specified.

18. A car having a vertically-disposed and transversely-movableguide-frame in combination with a plow arranged in said frame andadapted to slide vertically therein and also move bodily with the framein a transverse direction, anda railway of the conduit system having anopening in the conduit large enough for the removal of the plow, and aninclined way arranged to engage the plow and lift it out of the conduitand above the surface between the rails, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereofwe have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

THEODORE J KING. ARTHUR O. BABENDREIER. \Vitnesses:

THOMAS E. TURPIN, CHARLES H. RAEDER.

